JBFloyd

The Peruvian Order of Police Merit is getting to be relatively common these days, as several ebay sellers in Lima seem to have ready access to the manufacturer/police stocks. Because of the absence of decent sources in English (oe Spanish, for that matter),Latin American awards have not been highly collected, so there are bargains out there. The low quality of workmanship on recent awards (such as this one), has also reduced the number of collectors. Pieces made at the Lima Mint are much higher quality. There are a few hard-core collectors here, but the sources are very sporadic. Ebay has been a great source of relatively cheap Latin American awards.

Can someone give me the proper identification, and the period of use, of this heraldic device, which has been tentatively identied as Saxon arms and is attached to a brass gorget? Heraldry is not my strength.

Many are still in the hands of the recipients. In both Australia and New Zealand, there is a tradition of wearing your medals, so they don't get tossed out as commonly as here in the US. I was working with Australian aircrews (call sign "Wallaby") in-country in 1971, only 40 years ago. Not long in medallic terms.

The pendant is a style used on a variety of reunion badges by various veterans groups. The ribbon is probably just a ribbon and the device is nothing I've ever seen on any US medal, so I'd lean toward a concocted piece made up of stray parts.

The two soldiers design was a variant they used. I've seen an explanation of the various designs, but cannot find it right now.

The eagle at the ring of the left miniature is Mexican and the piece is probably a "Mexican-Moroccan Cultural Society" badge (or some title very similar). I've seen a Mexican-Ethiopian Cultural Society miniature with a similar design. The right miniature also shows the eagle with a snake in its beak, so it may be a Mexican-Belgian society medal.

I've also liked the Transport Medal for some reason. For a number of years, I've logged sightings of them in the market and collections and have recorded 324 specimens of the 1719 issued (roughly 19%). Of those recorded, 36 were 2-bar medals (178 2-bars were issued).

The second medal is an American Legion School Award (for current criteria, see http://www.legion.org/documents/pdf/schoolaward.pdf) I suspect the first medal is also an organizational award given to an outstanding student, but I can't see enough detail to be specific.

The Saarland Plebiscite Medal shows soldiers of the Netherlands, Sweden, England and Italy, who oversaw the plebiscite and return of the Saar to Germany; the reverse depicts a hand dropping a ballot into a box and “Volksabstimmung Saargebiet/13 Jan 1935”. The black/white/blue ribbon reflects the colors of the Saar flag. In January 1935, over 90% of the voters in the Saar Plebiscite elected to return to German control, having been under Allied and neutral control since 1918. These seem to appear mostly in the UK, because the British provided a large of the troops involved (and they couldn't wear it).

I have found the use of bars on these medals to be more common after World War II than before. However, that may a function of the way the bars are made, in that they fall off fairly easily. If the medal has no pin-back, or is not bar-mounted, the bar is rarely there, in my experience. I think of this bent-wire suspension as a pre-WWII style, but I've not handled enough of these to speak with authority.

The last gold one I sold (in 2007) was named, but had noticeable enamel damage (so a plus for naming and a minus for damage). It listed at $650.

That's an interesting possibility. This group comes from a collector who was very active at that time. I'll test his memory.

The medals were struck in Germany, but all had a fairly soft strike. The clasps, however, were apparently struck in Southwest Africa.

An interesting Red Cross group consisting of: Anhalt House Order of Albert the Bear, knight first class, gilt; Weimar Republic Red Cross Merit Order, second class, gilt and enamel (1922-1934); Bavaria Merit Order of St. Michael, fourth class with crown, silver and enamel; Prussia Order of the Crown, fourth class, marked “Wilm” and “Berlin” on the cylinder; Prussia Red Cross Medal, third class, in zinc; Spain Order of the Red Cross, knight, silver-gilt and enamel (1899-1926). Any hope of ever pinning down the recipient?

Here's an unusual pair to Cyril W. Fuller, Imperial Yeomany and Cape Mounted Police. In 1907, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany instituted the South West Africa Commemorative Medal to recognize the service of German Colonial Troops in putting down a series of uprisings in German South West Africa between 1904 and 1907. Jakob Marenga led one such uprising. In s[pite of the efforts of German Colonial Troops, Marenga eluded capture and inflicted casualties on the Germans. In 1907, the local German authorities and the government of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope decided that cooperation was the best way to stop Marenga. The Cape Colony formed “S” Squadron, made up of men from the Cape Mounted Rifles and Cape Mounted Police, to pursue Marenga across the Kalahari. This force finally caught up with him on 20 September 1907 and annihilated his force, ending his threat to German South West Africa. After much internal debate, the British government decided to approve the kaiser’s request to issue medals to the men of “S” Squadron. With the approval of King Edward VII, the Germans issued their South West Africa Commemorative Medal to those who had participated in the engagement. The result was the award of 92 medals with the clasp “Kalahari 1907", including the award to C.W. Fuller. An additional 13 medals were awarded without the clasp and one medal in steel (non-combatant). This was the only clasp to the German South West Africa Medal awarded to foreign troops and no German troops received the clasp.

Naples is correct, not Rome.

There are several variations of this medal, but you will most commonly find them with inscriptions for 5th Army (US) and 8th Army (British). They were not awards, but souvenirs of the entry into Rome by the allied armies in June 1944. They were sold by some enterprising entrepreneurs who knew that soldiers would buy almost anything to keep as a souvenir of their service or to send home to their mother, wife or girlfriend (perhaps all three).

The Silver Cross of the Order of St. Alexander, with surmounting swords (swords "am ring") was for acts of courage in peacetime. The last medal is the Spanish Silver Cross of the Order of Military Merit, so there was no enamel on these. It uses the arms of Spain that were in use from about 1871 through 1931 (along with the royal crown of the same period). Interesting combination of awards with the notable absence of even an Iron Cross. Perhaps a minor diplomatic functionary in his early life and too old to be near the sound of the guns in 1914.

It's a 6th class (gilt, with the sword hilts in silver). The 7th class is silver, with only the kite being gilt.

While the regulation called for numbers, I've only seen one that actually had a number engraved. I suspect that most were simply sent out without engraving. If you have to make a choice, take the Brazilian piece. Portuguese War Crosses are scarce, but Brazilian War Crosses are rare. You'll always be able to find a Portuguese War Cross. I'd guess that I've seen 10 Portuguese for every Brazilian.

This is the combatant version; the non-combatant version has white stripes on the ribbon instead of black. Regulations called for a Roman numeral to be engraved on the upper obverse arm, denoting the number of "semesters" (6-month periods) the recipient served outside of Brazil. The primary recipients were the Brazilian Navy personnel who served in the Atlantic. They were on anti-submarine patrol in an area roughly from the Azores to the eastern tip of Brazil to Dakar, West Africa. A small aviation contingent served with the Royal Air Force in France. The non-combatant version went mostly to members of a medical mission sent to France. The Spanish influenze proved more deadly than the U-boats. The flu swept through the fleet and several of the ships reported only 10% of their crews were able to function. There is a cemetery in Dakar full of Brazilian Navy personnel who died from the flu. There is a much more common French- or Portuguese-made copy made for the collector's market. That was created by putting new centers on a Portuguese War Cross body (very bulbous and with pebbled arms). These copies have an "VIII" struck as part of the design on the upper arm.

The die-cutter is Karl Schwenzer (1843-1904) of Stuttgart.

I don't have a photo. I am working from a description provided by the badge's owner. But the translation helps. Thanks.

Jonas, Great! Many thanks.

I'm helping a friend sort out the rank on a Czech staff academy badge he has. The rank is engraved "KPT-ZEN", which I assume to be a Captain of some flavor. Can anyone tell me what the "Zen" part means?